Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Polly's On A Reducing Diet...

Okay, so I am supposed to be on a diet, but what happens when you head off on a weekend jam packed with Scouting activities outdoors and under canvass? Anyone who has done any of the above would probably be inclined to argue that good intentions fly straight out the window and they might be right...

This weekend was like most other weekends, except that food was a plenty and it was there for the taking. Ordinarily we have set rations of food for meals and loads of junk, ie crisps, biscuits a2nd sweets. Now while this scenario is much the same on any Scout camp that I've ever been on, one must remember that they can actually say "No thanks!" when assailed by massive quantities of junk. Not only this, but it is possible to take your skimmed milk along and to avoid high fat spreads and chocolate.

This weekend we feasted on one of the cheapest meals ever produced by the 1st Tullamore Scout Troup; Lamb Rhogan Josh with rice. Not only was it cheap, nutritious and FILLING, there was enough for seconds and all but one scout enjoyed every single mouthful, he's the one who opted for a hard boiled egg and boiled rice for dinner. Next time he's going to give what we're eating a try!

No oil or fat was needed as the fat from the lamb was rendered down and used for the initial sauteeing of the meat & vegetables. The basic recipe was adapted from Jamie Oliver's recipe except that I mixed up my spice mixture using ground seeds instead of whole, for the sake of convenience and also because most of our charges aren't used to the presence of whole spices in their food!

Polly's secret spice recipe included english mustard powder, fenugreek powder, curry leaves, cumin, ginger, paprika, salt, chili flakes, (ground cardamom for the lamb) & turmeric. To be honest this would have been more than sufficient, but my Scouting colleague decided to pick up a couple of bottles of Rhogan Josh sauce which in my opinion was a waste of money, but never mind. An additional couple of cans of tomatoes would have been better value!(all of 6.5c per person!)

The jars of sauce cost .80c each, canned tomatoes .45c each, baby sweetcorn .79c, onions .79c, garlic .21c, peppers .90c, mushrooms €1.29c, ginger & chili's .40c, coconut milk €1.50, lamb €3.45 and easy cook long grain rice .89c which comes to a total of €9.78 or .98c per person! To be fair, there were actually enough left overs for one more portion, which would have brought down the total cost of the meal .89c per person (.82c without cook in sauces!)...

Now the one thing I'm unable to factor into the equation is the spices. Principally this is because the cost is minimal. I tend to buy spices from my local pakistani shop in what might be considered bulk, ie not in silly little branded jars that cost a fortune from the local supermarket! The one exception to this rule is Colman's Mustard Powder which costs €1.25 for 57g...

So, when you're eating this healthily and for so little it kind of stands to reason that dieting is not high on one's list of priorities. Combined with the fact that we were camping out in temperatures as low as -1C and continually on the go from morning till night, I probably burned off more calories than I consumed. I'm hopeful that my Thursday morning weigh in at Unislim will prove my theory and I'm sticking to it...